Sunday, April 20, 2014

2012 - PASSION, sub par Brian De Palma

Whenever Alfred Hitchcock had not had a box office success for a few films, he would "run for cover" as he called it. This meant that he would return to the suspense thriller formula he knew how to do. Brian De Palma clearly was trying to "run for cover" with Passion. Unfortunately this extremely disappointing thriller was a critical and commercial flop.

Probably De Palma's biggest mistake was in the casting of the central character. Rachel McAdams just does not look like a cold hearted business executive who will stab anyone in the back to get ahead. De Palma tries to sex McAdams up, but she comes off more like a little kid dressing up in some of Mommy's naughty underwear. McAdams is apparently some kind of bisexual or lip stick lesbian who may or may not have the hots for her assistant played by Noomi Rapace who gives a real monotone performance throughout the film. These two actors really throw the film off and it just never really recovers.

As far as De Palma's famous technique, he has all his trademark shots. The moving camera, the split-screen shots however they all seem to add up to nothing and are kind of pointless from a story telling aspect. In fact the famous Brian De Palma style is looking a little dated in this film.

A director who could usually mix sex and violence in interesting thrillers. Passion is not particularly sexy or violent. A real disappointment from one of the cinema's top stylists